Marcos launches lung transplant program

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos launched yesterday the country’s lung transplant program, aimed at saving the lives of individuals suffering from irreversible lung diseases.

In his speech, Marcos said the partnership between the Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP) and National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) – two specialty hospitals built during the term of his late father and namesake – could be a template by which hospitals pool their resources and share assets to boost patient care.

“The launch of the LCP and the NKTI lung transplant program is an application of the proven maxim that two heads – two hospitals – are better than one,” Marcos said.

The LCP and the NKTI were established in 1981 through Presidential Decree 1823 to address the respiratory health problems in the Philippines and to help the Filipino people afflicted with kidney and allied diseases, respectively.

A fire in 1998 destroyed 80 percent of the LCP, leading to a temporary halt in the program as efforts were redirected towards reconstructing the facility.

As part of the program, the LCP has been improving its infrastructure capacity, which includes the renovation of its post-anesthesia care unit worth P4.2 million and surgical intensive care unit amounting to P1.8 million, which will be funded through the 2024 General Appropriations Act and private sector donations.

Marcos vowed to exert all efforts to rehabilitate the NKTI Annex building damaged during the fire that hit LCP in 1998.

“We will be coming to you again so that we can complete the rebuilding, I was a little sad to hear that the damage that was caused by the fire of 1998 has not yet been completely rehabilitated, and I think that’s the first thing that we have to look to,” the President said.

Marcos also underscored the importance of the two institutions, noting that pneumonia and other forms of respiratory diseases were among the top 20 causes of mortality among Filipinos from January to July 2023 while acute lower respiratory tract infection and tuberculosis also remain among the top causes of illness in the country.

The President also cited his experience going to the doctor when he first contracted COVID-19, a respiratory illness, in 2020. The President also caught COVID in 2022 and 2023.

Marcos said while the pandemic is over, the diseases that prompted the establishment of the LCP still remain, and in increasing numbers.

Joining the President at the launch were Sen. Sonny Angara and Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte.

Belmonte committed to assist in establishing a registry of lung donors in the city.